HM Slaves

[pokemasta92]

I have never used "HM Slaves" and I never will. I don't want to be forced to go back and forth to a PC at any point in the games and I cannot stand to have any of my main Pokemon team not be at or around the same level (HM Slaves don't usually get trained) and not be able to hold their own in battle. So I spread all HM moves that the generation has amongst my whole team. Each Pokemon will have at least 1 and some will have 2, but they still have 2-3 powerful moves. This doesn't effect the difficulty in the least bit. If you have trouble beating a Pokemon game with 6 high level Pokemon that have 2-3 high damage moves then you are doing something wrong.

 

[Onicon]

If there was something like an endgame HM slave, it would be Dragonite who can learn every single HM but Rock Climb. Since boulders now permanently remain where they are, the only necessary moves in order to get around are Fly, Cut, Surf and Waterfall, although we usually ditch the last one for either Flash/Rock Smash which are luckily not HMs anymore.
The only other one to consider is Talonflame. The only thing he can perform is Fly, but the utility of Flame Body is invaluable. Also, it has Thief, in contrast to Volcarona.

 

[Sandslash Fan]

Sometimes people use Pokemon with multiple HMs to navigate through the Pokemon world easier at a "cost" of one team slot, and are usually referred to by the term "HM Slave." Do you use HM Slaves? What do you think about it?

I usually sacrifice a move slot on my regular team. It's hard enough limiting yourself to six Pokemon without cutting that down to 5 just for an HM slave.

 

[Rabby]

I used to have HM slaves xD. It may take up one slot, but at least ur other pokemon can still learn some new moves than the hm everytime ;-;
I never put any hms on samurott (except surf ;]), but mostly on my slave xD
I now divide the HMs between all my pkmn in my team equally ^^

 

[Ponyta]

I think putting all the HMs on a single pokemon is more tedious, as I know that I wouldn't use it as a full fledged party member, so swapping it in the PC would be an absolute pain. Aside from that, most of the moves are decent enough, that you can find a suitable pokemon for them

 

[qOptic]

While everyone is saying bibarel, I think people forgot about Zigzagoon since it can learn the major HMs except fly. Other than that I think having main pokemon with HMs can be effective and a good use. For example, Salamance with Fly, any water type pokemon with surf, and a pokemon with a lot of strength with the HM strength. There is a lot of ways to implement HMs to be effective to attack other pokemon. You just gotta have the right pokemon for it.

 

[Fernbutter]

I had like two HM slaves, one for water related stuff, and the other one was flying and destroying every random things.

 

[Lost Lore]

I honestly despise the term "HM slave" with a passion, but I digress... I am very attached to my pixels shut up

Yeah, I've used them before. There are very few HMs that are useful rather than a hindrance to a Pokemon's moveset (among those being Surf, Fly and sometimes Strength and Waterfall) and they tend to be horribly limiting because of the four move limit. Earlier on, Rock Smash is surprisingly useful, but you don't want to keep it for the late game, for example. Cut and Rock Climb are unreliable, inaccurate moves.

On another note, when you're doing a mono-type, though, sometimes it can't be helped. For example, when I was doing a Dark one in Platinum (I still am, but that's beside the point) I didn't own anything that could learn Surf until I caught a Sneasel (why that can learn Surf is beyond me) and obviously didn't own anything that could learn Waterfall. So I had to make do.

 

[Hikamaru]

I used Bibarel as my go-to HM Slave back in D/P/Pt, or Linoone if I happened to be playing a Hoenn game. I did like how there was less requirement for HMs starting from B/W, meaning I can now use a full team without having to waste a slot devoted entirely for HMs.

Basically, I only use HM Slaves on those games that were chock full of HM obstacles, except for Surf which I always gave to my main Water-type. And Fly always gets taught to my resident Flying-type team member.

 

[Aeroblast]

I honestly despise the term "HM slave" with a passion, but I digress... I am very attached to my pixels shut up

There was a discussion in Pokemon General (place I don't frequent as often) discussing the same thing, but yeah, try to keep the discussion to whether you use HM Slaves/companions/mules/whatever.

Personally I haven't really used HM slaves often because they take up a valuable space. Most of the HM Moves I usually need fit my Pokemon well. (e.g. surf, fly)

 

[pokemasta92]

There was a discussion in Pokemon General (place I don't frequent as often) discussing the same thing, but yeah, try to keep the discussion to whether you use HM Slaves/companions/mules/whatever.

Personally I haven't really used HM slaves often because they take up a valuable space. Most of the HM Moves I usually need fit my Pokemon well. (e.g. surf, fly)

Agreed. A lot of people mention the wasted move slot, but don't seem to mind the wasted POKEMON slot. I think the opposite.

 

[Talon Flare]

I would say Floatzel is the best for this. Not far behind are Bibarel and Barbarnacle. I wished there was a flying type that knows all HMs

 

[Eevee3]

I've never used one actually xD I was a bad person and taught the Pokemon on my team the HM moves. xD
Nowadays I just catch a random Pokemon the HM, use the HM and then box that Pokemon. I don't like teaching my Pokemon HM moves ;_____; The only exception I have is Fly, even though it sucks in battle. I can't travel around without it.

 

[Schizii]

Plenty of times. Bibarel was my main man in D/P/P. Loved him. <3
Linoone was another, then there was Watchdog, and I believe I used a Diggersby for Pokemon X. ;D
I think they're pretty handy. I normally don't keep a full team of six with me anyways. At most, it's just one or two pokemon. //shrug
So Hm Slaves and their slot isn't a big deal to me.

 

[Dreg]

I never used HM slaves until after Gen 3. I ended up using a Bibarel with Rock Smash, Rock Climb, Strength and Surf. I think the reason that some people have HM slaves is because they don't want these sort of attacks on their team, because HM moves can't be forgotten without a move deleter.

 

[PlatinumDude]

I don't use HM slaves, as I feel that all 6 team slots are important. As a result, I distribute my HMs among my team members.